I am a consulting academic writer and editor with education and experience across the biological and health sciences. As a knowledge worker and science communicator, I specialize in shaping your medical, technical, scientific, and/or academic documents to tell a story that will reach the intended audience, whether that is a peer review committee or the general public.
Interests and Example Projects
They say that successful people surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are. Every project I have been involved in reminds me that the world is full of really smart people who are taking on the world’s big problems. From carbon capture and materials chemistry to genomics and biodiversity to cancer biology and emergency medicine to clinical psychology and clinical trials to agriculture and food science to Indigenous knowledge and truth and reconciliation, I am never bored and always inspired.
I have been a consulting academic writer and editor on multi-million-dollar group or network applications to
- Canadian Institutes for Health Research Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (CIHR SPOR)
- Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE)
- New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF)
- Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
- Genome Canada (GC)
- Protein Industries Canada (PIC)
I have assisted individuals or small groups with research applications to
- Canadian Institutes for Health Research Project and Team Grants (CIHR)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grants (NSERC)
- Canada Research Chairs (CRC)
- Cancer Research Society (CRS) Operating Grants
- The Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM) Operating Grants
I have assisted individuals and groups with publication in many scientific journals, for example:
- Trials
- BMJ Open
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Pediatric Emergency Care
- Nature Communications
- The Lancet
I have assisted many graduate students at the master’s and PhD levels with achieving clarity and flow in their theses, in areas ranging from clinical epidemiology to immunology to cellular physiology to computational chemistry.
I have assisted academics with updating and formatting their CVs for a variety of purposes, including industry relations.
As a contributing writer, editor, or proofreader, I have provided support for organizations such as:
- Seven Oaks School Division (content editing, handbook for families of Indigenous kids in care)
- Pembina Trails School Division (community communications)
- Arctic BIOSCAN (contributing writer and editor for reports and web content)
- the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (where I also helped to update their in-house style guide)
- ISTE Ltd. (where I have been a project manager in end-stage book production for 50+ titles to date)
- Graydin, an organization dedicated to teaching coaching skills in education (content editing)
- Geez magazine, (proofreader and occasional contributor)
I can provide editorial input in MS Word, Adobe Acrobat and Overleaf (LaTeX). I am familiar with Chicago, AMA, APA, and Canadian Press styles, as well as the Elements of Indigenous Style by Gregory Younging. I also understand the intricacies of working in American, British, and Canadian English.
See more about the services I can offer, and read about what others have had to say about my work here.
A Short Bio
Karen studied genetics, molecular biology and physiology at the University of Manitoba, finishing graduate studies in 1999. Through most of the next two decades, while raising her family, Karen worked in academia, moving through positions as a research associate and lab manager to project and program management in research and health care. Drawing on her extensive and varied experience, she has been an independent consulting writer, editor, and proofreader for academics and professionals since 2016. Her mission is to help clients convey information in a way that is both useful and helpful to their intended audiences.
Karen credits her interest in science and nature (and her love of horses) to her maternal grandparents. As biologists and naturalists, they always encouraged her to observe the world and ask questions about it. When not at her desk, Karen can be found at Falcon Beach Ranch, where she keeps her horse, plays with the herd and helps out where needed with trail rides and excursions to the site of the famous Falcon Lake Encounter.
Karen lives with her family in the boreal forest of Treaty 3 territory, on lands originally stewarded and inhabited by the Anishinaabe people.